


A Different Kind of Wound

by Yuki_Frill



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, S3 spoilers, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22176361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki_Frill/pseuds/Yuki_Frill
Summary: “If you care, why did you leave me with him?” Claudia accused.“I asked you to come with me.” It was a sad attempt to defend himself. “I should’ve tried harder,” he admitted.Soren and Claudia reunited for the first time after the battle. After wounding each other, they found themselves trapped in a cave and for the first time since Soren left, they had a heart-to-heart to heal each other's emotional wound.
Relationships: Claudia & Soren & Viren (The Dragon Prince), Claudia & Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 65





	A Different Kind of Wound

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's still not over the brodigies' separation? Cry with me, guys.

When Soren came to, his vision wasn’t cooperative.

His head rang and his entire muscle pulsated with pain, especially his right arm. Focusing on his surrounding was not so easy a task. But he could slowly see a familiar figure swimming into view.

“…Claudia?” he asked, voice hoarse.

The figure turned her head to his direction but didn’t say anything. Soon, she got up and left.

Soren thought she had abandoned him, but she was back with something. And she put that something over his mouth.

“Drink this,” she said.

He did without question. He probably should have. She could be poisoning him and he wouldn’t even know.

No, it was just water.

Soren choked a bit because his throat wouldn’t cooperate either. But his vision had gotten a lot better and he could now tell that it was really Claudia.

Claudia… he hadn’t seen her in a while.

The left side of her head was completely white. She looked horrible, like she hadn’t slept in ages. It broke his heart to see her like this, but this really wasn’t the time to cry. His whole body was screaming in pain.

“What happened?” Soren managed to ask.

Claudia was already sitting far away from him, hugging her knees. “You don’t remember?” she asked, glaring at him.

He shook his head no.

It was only then did he realize that they were inside a dark and humid cave with only the fire Soren assumed Claudia had put while he was unconscious, being the source of light and warmth. He looked around and could not see a way out. All of a sudden, he felt trapped.

“You and your _friends_ attacked us,” Claudia began, looking into the fire instead of at him. “Managed to separate us. You were the only one chasing after me.”

From her story, Soren tried piecing his memories together. The pain on his arm was making it hard to think. But he could remember chasing after Claudia when Callum and the others went for his Father and the elf.

He remembered begging her to stop helping their Father and to come with him. She had fooled him into thinking she was considering to. And when he let his guard down, she had…

“I attacked you with magic,” Claudia continued his thought. She briefly looked at his half-burnt arm. “You attacked me back with your sword,” she added, then slid her cape to the side to show him a bandaged abdomen.

Soren felt sick to his stomach. He couldn’t believe he had actually inflicted a mortal wound onto his own sister. The sister he had vowed to protect since the moment he was sentient.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” he managed to choke out.

Claudia looked mildly amused but didn’t say anything, only looking into the fire like it entertained her.

They stayed quiet for a while as Soren squeezed his eyes closed and struggled to breathe through the pain. The rock he was leaning against did not help with the pain at all. Everything was burning. He was sweating despite the low temperature.

He would be okay, he knew. A wound of this extent wouldn’t kill him. But man was the pain merciless.

Soren jolted up when he felt coolness against his wound. He opened his eyes to see Claudia by his side, applying some sort of magic on his arm.

“You should feel better now,” she said, focusing on his wound instead of looking at him. “It’s cooling magic. I don’t have enough ingredients on me to perform healing magic,” she explained. She didn’t have to.

Just the fact that she was willing to consider healing him if she had the ingredients made Soren’s heart swell. It was the first act of kindness he had received from her since that day he left her. It felt nostalgic. He didn’t realize how much he’d longed for it before he received it again.

“Thank you,” he told her, sounding too formal.

She didn’t respond, just continue applying the magic until it wore off minutes later. She didn’t return to her spot immediately, but instead was looking at him like she wanted to make sure he wasn’t in pain. Soren awkwardly grinned at her and moved his burnt arm to show her that it felt so much better now.

Claudia had a look of approval before she got up to head to her little spot again.

Soren didn’t know what he was thinking. Whether it was the anaemia. His vulnerability demanding company. Or if it was just how much he’d missed her. His bad arm had reached to grab her wrist before he could stop himself.

Soren’s heart dropped when Claudia reacted by pulling her hand away and protectively holding the wrist he just grabbed. Her eyes wide, body tensed and breathing ragged. Like she was afraid he would just snap it in half.

_I don’t have enough ingredients on me…_

Soren had only realized why she had kept her distance. She could barely do magic right now and he was always physically stronger. He could have ended her right here and now if he wasn’t injured.

Just the fact that she even believed he would do such thing broke his heart.

When they were children, Soren had his fair share of being mean to his little sister. Pushing her for no reason or pulling her hair just to annoy her. But never once had she reacted this way to him. Never once had she ever been scared of him. Because she should know he would never have actually hurt her intentionally.

“Clauds,” he called and noticed how she reacted to the pet name. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly. _I would never,_ was what he wanted to say but he knew he already broke that promise.

Still not looking convinced, Claudia’s hand moved to touch her bandaged abdomen. Soren felt a jab to his heart.

“No,” she mumbled, earning Soren’s attention. “I know that. It’s just…” she trailed off, shaking her head slowly then walked back to her spot. “The pain is making it hard to think.”

She was hugging her knees again, taking deep, shuddering breaths as she squeezed her eyes shut. She was in pain, too. But she was willing to use her scarce ingredients to make him feel better.

Soren didn’t know how to feel. What to feel. He didn’t know what Claudia wanted him to feel or what she was thinking. He used to be able to understand her. He was the only one who could speak Claudia aside from Claudia herself. He used to be proud of that.

God, it was so hard to assume. He wished they could just talk it out.

Wait.

They could.

There’s nothing to bother them here. No Viren to manipulate Claudia into thinking everyone was her enemy. No Callum and the others to demand Soren to capture or hurt her. They could talk here without interference, couldn’t they?

Who knows when they would ever get this chance again?

Soren forcefully removed himself from the rock to sit up, groaning loudly from pain. Claudia opened her eyes to look at him, then sat straight.

“What are you doing?” she asked, confused and, dare he say, worried. When he continued making more gestures to stand up, she commanded, “Stay still! It’s going to hurt more if you move.”

He ignored her and the pain. It had become tolerable, after all. And the bleeding from his burnt arm had stopped for a while now. He hadn’t become a Crownguard for years without developing enough pain tolerance for something like this.

“Soren, stop being crazy and get the hell back to your spot.” Claudia had started losing her patience and making gestures like she was about to get up herself, if only to strike him in the face for being an absolute idiot.

Thankfully, he made it to her side of the cave and dropped to sit beside her. Claudia scooted away a bit but overall only looked confused instead of scared.

“Remember when we would hide together in the dungeon to run away from Mom and Dad?” he asked abruptly, making her blink. “It’s dark and cold like this, too.”

Claudia refused to acknowledge him as she returned her gaze to the fire.

Not giving up, Soren moved to rest his head onto her shoulder, making her look at him. “I missed you,” he whispered, smiling up at her.

She seemed to consider what he was saying. Her gaze softened for a second before it hardened again. “Then why did you leave?” she asked coldly.

Soren removed his head from her shoulder and faced her properly, looking hurt. “Claudia…” he whimpered sadly.

“If you care, why did you leave me with him?” Claudia accused.

“I asked you to come with me.” It was a sad attempt to defend himself. “I should’ve tried harder,” he admitted weakly.

“That’s fine.” Claudia wasn’t looking at him again. “I wouldn’t have gone with you either way. I couldn’t leave him. I still can’t.” She looked dazed, like she was talking to herself. “He needs me.”

That last sentence aggravated him. “ _I_ need you, too!” he declared angrily and it made her turn to him again. “Why won’t you choose me?” he asked, desperate.

“You know I never choose between family,” she countered in silent anger and unspoken grudge. “I never did. It was you who chose Dad. It was you who chose the Princes. I’m just… staying.” Her frown deepened. “Even if it gets lonely, I refuse to be the one leaving.”

There it was. She admitted to being lonely. Her loneliness had been evident from the start. From the moment he saw her again back during their raid, he could see it. How exhausted she was yet unwilling to leave. Unwilling to make other people feel abandoned.

Always, always such a people pleaser.

“Stop prioritizing others, goddammit!” he shouted, grabbing her by the arms and startling her. “Just… just stop it, Clauds! You’re just killing yourself like this. I can’t…” he trailed off, choking on tears. _Begging._ “I can’t watch you do this to yourself.”

Claudia looked stunned. For a moment, he felt like he saw the life return to her eyes before they glistened with tears of her own. She grabbed a bunch of her white hair as if just she just came to a horrifying realization of what she had become.

She shrunk, sobbing. Occasionally hissing from the pain in her abdomen amplified by her uncontrollable sobs.

Soren bit back his own sob. “Because of my choice, you had to grow up early and replace our Mom. Because of my choice, you had to lose yourself to fix me.” He gently removed the hand that’s begrudgingly gripping her hair then gently brushed it with his own. “Because of my choice, you had to grow old early to save our Dad….”

He wrapped her arms around her protectively, ignoring the pain that shot up and down his arm, letting her sob in his chest.

This was what he was supposed to do. Be her brother. Be there for her. Protect her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, sobbing and kissing the top of her head. “I’m sorry I left.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first time writing something this... inconclusive. I was gonna take a screenshot of the draft to show my friend but ended up publishing the fic lmao but I've seen some fics that cut off abruptly like this and I've always wanted to try it so it's a win-win, I guess?
> 
> But really, I just want them to talk about what happened. And get that hug they never get to have in S3.
> 
> Anyways, I drew [something](https://www.instagram.com/p/B7OB_axFB__/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) based on this story


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